Van Hollen keeping options open

Even though he’s not seeking another term, Wisconsin’s attorney general says he is not thinking very much about what he plans to do after he leaves office. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says his “options are open” after he finishes his second term at the end of next year, and he has not really given his future much thought yet.

Van Hollen announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection, saying it’s time to give someone else a chance to serve as the head of the state Department of Justice and bring new ideas to the agency. During an interview with WRN Wednesday at the Capitol, Van Hollen maintained that he has made no decisions about if he will ever run for public office again.

Van Hollen does admit that a possible run for the state Supreme Court could interest him. “It’s a very very important place, and with my love for the rule of law and belief in it, it’s a job that I think would be neat and important.” Still, he says it’s far too early to say if he would ever consider mounting a campaign for the bench.

Those decisions are still well off in the future for the two term Republican attorney general, who plans to spend his remaining time in office focusing on key issues facing the state. Those include continued efforts to combat a growing heroin epidemic and ongoing legal efforts to defend the state’s voter ID requirement, which remains tied up in the courts.